Excess body fat, or adipose tissue, may be present in various locations of the body, including, for example, the thigh, buttocks, abdomen, knees, back, face, arms, chin, and other areas. Moreover, excess adipose tissue is thought to magnify the unattractive appearance of cellulite, which forms when subcutaneous fat protrudes into the dermis and creates dimples where the skin is attached to underlying structural fibrous strands. Cellulite and excessive amounts of adipose tissue are often considered to be unappealing. Moreover, significant health risks may be associated with higher amounts of excess body fat.
A variety of methods have been used to treat individuals having excess body fat and, in many instances, non-invasive removal of excess subcutaneous adipose tissue can eliminate unnecessary recovery time and discomfort associated with invasive procedures such as liposuction. Conventional non-invasive treatments for removing excess body fat typically include topical agents, weight-loss drugs, regular exercise, dieting, or a combination of these treatments. One drawback of these treatments is that they may not be effective or even possible under certain circumstances. For example, when a person is physically injured or ill, regular exercise may not be an option. Similarly, weight-loss drugs or topical agents are not an option when they cause an allergic or negative reaction. Furthermore, fat loss in selective areas of a person's body often cannot be achieved using general or systemic weight-loss methods.
Other methods designed to reduce subcutaneous adipose tissue include laser-assisted liposuction and mesotherapy. Newer non-invasive methods include applying radiant energy to subcutaneous lipid-rich cells via, e.g., radio frequency and/or light energy, such as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0036300 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,063, or via, e.g., high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) radiation such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,258,674 and 7,347,855. Additional methods and devices for non-invasively reducing subcutaneous adipose tissue by cooling are disclosed in, e.g., Manstein et al. “A Novel Cryotherapy Method of Non-invasive, Selective Lipolysis” LasersSurg. Med. 40:S20 p 104 (2008), Manstein et al., “Selective Cryolysis: A Novel Method of Non-Invasive Fat Removal”, LasersSurg. Med. 40:595-604 (2008), U.S. Pat. No. 7,367,341 entitled “METHODS AND DEVICES FOR SELECTIVE DISRUPTION OF FATTY TISSUE BY CONTROLLED COOLING” to Anderson et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0251120 entitled “METHODS AND DEVICES FOR DETECTION AND CONTROL OF SELECTIVE DISRUPTION OF FATTY TISSUE BY CONTROLLED COOLING” to Anderson et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0198071 entitled “COOLING DEVICE FOR REMOVING HEAT FROM SUBCUTANEOUS LIPID-RICH CELLS” to Ting et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0255362 entitled “CRYOPROTECTANT FOR USE WITH A TREATMENT DEVICE FOR IMPROVED COOLING FOR SUBCUTANEOUS LIPID-RICH CELLS” to Levinson et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0077201 entitled “COOLING DEVICE WITH FLEXIBLE SENSORS” to Levinson et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0077211 entitled “COOLING DEVICE HAVING A PLURALITY OF CONTROLLABLE COOLING ELEMENTS TO PROVIDE A PREDETERMINED COOLING PROFILE” to Levinson et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0287839 entitled “METHOD OF ENHANCED REMOVAL OF HEAT FROM SUBCUTANEOUS LIPID-RICH CELLS AND TREATMENT APPARATUS HAVING AN ACTUATOR” to Rosen et al., filed May 18, 2007; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/777,992 entitled “SYSTEM FOR TREATING LIPID-RICH REGIONS” to Levinson et al., filed Jul. 13, 2007, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Although the methods and devices disclosed in these publications and applications are promising, several improvements for enhancing the implementation of these methods and devices would be desirable.